3,6 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



[May 11, 1912. 



pruning the trees then the cut surfaces bleed 

 very little. Moreover, it can then be easily as- 

 certained which of the shoots are best furnished 

 with fruits. These, as a matter of course, 

 should be retained, cutting out the old and less 

 fruitful branches which are not required in the 

 development of good, well-balanced pot-trees. 

 When the young growths have attained a 

 length of 12 or 15 inches, pinch the points out 

 in order to promote uniform growth in the 

 trees and the formation of fruit-buds. If 

 the trees have not been repotted earlier in 

 the season, as they should have been, the sur- 

 face soil should be removed from each pot and 

 replaced by a mixture of good loamy soil and 

 horse-droppings in about equal parts, this 

 being pressed firmly together and well watered. 

 Later in the season rims formed of zinc, 

 hoop-iron or pieces of turf should be placed 

 inside the rims of the pets, and extending a 

 couple of inches above it so as to afford addi- 

 tional space for applying top -dressings of sheep- 

 droppings and cow -manure with a little soil 

 added thereto. Or, failing the animal manures, 

 a good plant food and loam in the proportion of 

 six parts of the former to one of the latter 

 may be employed. Fig treey in pots, like all 

 kinds o£ fruit trees grown similarly, should be 

 kept uniformly moist at the roots during the 

 entire period cf active growth. The foliage 

 must be kept free from red spider by judicious 

 syringings with clean water both mornings and 

 afternoons during bright, sunny weather, until 

 the fruits begin to ripen, when a drier atmo- 

 sphere and plenty of ventilation should be 



afforded. 



Hollies not Fruiting: A. B. The flowers of 

 the Holly may be either monoecious, diu'eious, 

 or hermaphrodite. Those you send are all 

 staminate only, therefore your trees cannot be 

 expected to produce berries. 



Making and Planting Vine Borders: C. II. 



Unless the subsoil consist of limestone or chalk 

 it will be advisable to place at the bottom of 

 the border a layer, 4 to 6 inches deep, of 

 concrete or chalk well pounded, to prevent the 

 roots of the vines from entering into the sub- 

 soil, and at the same time to confine them in 

 the prepared compost. A border about 10 feet 

 wide and 2 feet 3 inches deep immediately 

 inside or outride the front wall, as^ the case 

 may be, sloping to a depth of 18 inches at 

 the southern limits of the border, defined 

 by a 9-inch retaining wall, is amply sufficient. 

 The depth given above includes 4 inches of 

 brickbats or clinkers for drainage purposes. 

 The bottom of the border should slope to the re- 

 taining wall, where a gutter should be formed 

 to carry away superfluous water. The drain- 

 age should be covered with thin turves, about 

 l'foot wide and from 2 to 3 feet long, placed 

 grassy-side downwards, to prevent the soil 

 from getting into and choking the drainage. 

 The cultivator should aim at securing a net- 

 work of roots in his vine borders early, and then 

 feeding them well by giving frequent liberal 

 surface dressings of some suitable plant food 

 immediately before applying clear water. 

 Should you contemplate planting the vines in 

 inside borders, the bottom of the border should 

 slope from the front to the back wall and a 

 gutter should be fixed at the lowest point. The 

 foregoing remarks apply to low situations where 

 the average water-line is within a few feet of 

 the surface. If the site selected for the vineries 

 is high and well above the highest water- 

 mark, and the soil consists of a good depth of 

 rich loam, resting on a substratum of lime- 

 stone, chalk or gravel, all that is necessary is 

 to trench the ground 18 inches to 24 inches 

 deep, and apply a liberal quantity of short 

 manure. Where the natural soil is either too 

 light or too heavy in texture for the produc- 

 tion of good Grapes, the borders must be made 

 of prepared soil, preferably that obtained 

 from an old pasture. To five cart-loads of 

 loam should be added one cart-load each of old 

 lime rubble, wood ashes and horse-droppings, 

 also one barrow r ful of soot (if available), and 

 4 cwt. of crushed bones, the whole being well 

 mixed together. Whether the vines are to be 

 planted in inside or outside borders, it will 

 be advisable to make the borders in sections 

 about 4 feet in width, adding 3 feet-strips to 

 this in each of the two following years. At 

 3 feet from plant to plant you will require 

 four vines for each vinery, setting the fiist 



18 

 first 



plants in each house at a little more than 

 inches from the division wall. In the i 

 house (the one nearest to the hot-water system) 

 plant two vines of Muscat of Alexandria at the 

 end where the hot-wa^r pipes enter the house 

 from the boiler ; one vine of Madresfield Court 

 and one of Black Hamburgh. In the second 

 house plant one vine of Madresfield Court, one 

 of Gros Colmar, one of Black Alicante, and 

 one of Mrs. Pince. 



- 



Names of Plants: James Groves. Origanum; 



the species cannot be determined in the 



absence of flowers. W. H. Saxifraga mus- 



coides var. Rhei.— A. 0. 1, Amelanchier 



canadensis; 2, Tulipa sylvestris. — A. W. H. 



1, Arabis procurrens; 2, Prunus serru- 



lata plena; 3, P. triloba flore-pleno; 4, 



P. japonica flore-pleno; 5, Cytisus Ardoinii ; 



6, Asplenium Filix-foemina var. ; 7, Arrhena- 



therum bulbosum variegatum ; 8, Skimmia 



japonica variegata ; 9, Exochorda grandiflora ; 



10, Carex Morrowii. — G. II. Calycanthus flori- 



dus. — A. D. W. Peziza vesiculosa. — R. M. 



Lamb. Prunus serrulata variety flore luteo 



pleno, sometimes erroneously called P. Pseudo- 



cerasus varietv flore luteo pleno. — G. II . /. 



(a) and (b) both forms of the " Bird Cherry,' * 



Prunus Padus. — H. C. Chionanthus retusa. 



— G. F. M. 1, Lonicera tatarica variety 



pulcherrima ; 2, Juniperus chinensis ; 3, 



Cupressus obtusa; 4, Cupressus umbilicata. — 



A. W. Spirsea arguta. — Gardener (T. D. S.) 



Erinus alpinus.— Clark Bros. Akebia quinajba. 



— W. & S. Erica propendens. — Ignoramus. 



Clematis montana. W. B. S. Ribes aureum. 



— C. J. 1, Prunus Padus; 2, Pyrus aria; 3, 



Euonymus radicans variegata ; 4, Berberis 



Darwinii ; 5, Alnus glutinosus (Alder) ; 6 



, 7, Cassinia fulvida ; 8, Garry a 



A. Paulownia imperialis. — 



Odontoglossum triumphans ; 2, 



Coradinei; 3, Epidendrum variegatum._ 



B. 8. Rib^s a urea. — tmauiref. Dublin, 



Ligustrum sp 

 elliptica. — W 



F.B. 1, 



0. 

 W. 



stalli 



num; 3 and 4, D. nobile; 5, Brunsfelsia 

 (Franciscea) latif olia ; 6, Trachylospermum 

 (Rhyncosoermum) jasminoides. — T. D. S. 

 Pyrus aria. 



Oechids fkom Singapore: W. G. S. m You are 



not likely to be successful in importing plants 

 from Singapore and district. Plants travel 

 very badly from that region, and those which 

 reach this country alive usually take a long 

 time to establish. Even if you get plants here 

 in a fair condition, there is little chance of 

 them realising much profit. 



Orchis mascula : F. V. The specimen you 

 send is not Orchis mascula but Orchis Morio, L., 

 var. alba (the Green-winged Orchis). You will 

 notice that the white is spoilt by the green 

 stripes in the sepals and petals, but 0. mascula 

 alba is a gem with really white flowers and 

 rather rare. The acute, sharply-reflexed lateral 

 sepals always distinguish O. mascula. 



Peach Shoots: J. L. W. The Peach tree is 

 affected with Die-back. All dead shoots should 

 be removed and the tree sprayed early next 

 season, before the leaf-buds expand, with the 

 Bordeaux Mixture. 



Peach Trees Casting their Young Fruits : 



C. 2\, Bristol. If the ventilators were closed 

 at night during frosty weather the frost ex- 

 perienced in your district during the last two 

 weeks in April would not be likely to check 

 the Peach trees to the extent of causing them 

 to cast their fruit. Your trees having set an 

 abundant crop of fruit, sufficient may remain 

 on the trees to form and ripen an ample crop of 

 larger and finer fruit than would otherwise be 

 the case. The trouble may have resulted from 

 an insufficiency of moisture in the soil in 



which the trees are growing ; therefore, lose no 

 time in pricking over the surface of the border 

 with a digging fork preparatory to applying a 

 mulch 3 inches deep of good short manure. 

 Afford liberal waterings at intervals of a week 

 or ten days, according to the nature of the 

 weather and the composition of the border. 



Propagating Camellias from Cuttings : 

 B. D. K. The cuttings should consist of 

 shoots of half -ripened wood from 3 to 5 inches 

 in length. They should be inserted in 5-inch 

 filled to within one inch of the rim with 



latter, making the soil moderately firm about 

 the base of the individual cuttings. The pets 

 should be plunged in a bottom heat of 75° to 

 80°. Water the plants through a fine rose 

 shade them from sunshine and maintain a 

 moist, warm atmosphere. Thus treated, they 

 should become rooted within six or seven 

 weeks from the time they are inserted. You 

 might also take some cuttings of the current 

 year's growth with a heel of the old wood at- 

 tached and treating them as recommended 

 above. If a propagating pit is not available a 

 box filled to within 4 or 5 inches of the top with 

 sawdust may be employed, and then stood on 

 the hot- water pipes in a forcing house. Some- 

 times cuttings are made of the ripe wood, 

 inserted in pots as advised above and thei* 

 stood in a cold frame or pit for several weeks 

 until they have callused, after which they are 

 transferred to the propagating house. After 

 the little plants have become well-rooted, they 

 should be potted singly into 3-inch pots and 

 kept growing actively in a moist, warm atmo- 

 sphere, but shaded from strong sunshine. 



Strawberries : C. B. We have had many simi- 

 lar complaints to yours, and are inclined to at- 

 tribute the cause of the widespread Strawberry 

 failure to last year's abnormally dry season. It 

 must be borne in mind that if Strawberries in 

 pots — whether intended for forcing purposes or 

 for planting out-of-doors — are at any time 

 allowed to become dry at the root the planti 

 will suffer, and satisfactory crops cannot b* 

 produced. 



Tomatos and Celsia Diseased : C. F. C. The 

 _ plants are affected by the Tomato leaf -rust. All 

 diseased plants should be removed and de- 

 stroyed, for they will not bear good fruit. Spray 

 the Wealthy plants with liver of sulphur, using 

 1 ounce uT3 gallons of water. If there are no 

 fruits present, Bordeaux Mixture should be 

 used. Send a specimen of the Celsias for exami- 

 nation. 



Trop^olum: W. A. H. Tropaeolum speciosum 

 is a self-clinging scarlet-flower species, and 

 would be suitable for your purpose. 



Tulip Bulbs Diseased: R. S., Ltd. The bulba 

 are destroyed by the bulb-mite. Treat the soil 

 in which the plants have been grown with gas- 

 lime. 



Tulips : F. M. Owing, no doubt, to the excep- 

 tionally hot and dry summer of last year, dur- 

 ing which your bulbs were left in the ground, 

 many Darwin and other May flowering Tulips- 

 are this season producing two or more flowers 

 on the same stem. Many Hyacinths have also 

 shown the same peculiarity. You will obtain 

 better blooms if you lift the bulbs annually, as 

 you suggest. See also replies to H . W . in the 

 present issue, and to Anxious, p. 232, in the 

 issue for April 6. 



Wahlenbergia lobelioides and W. gracilis : 

 E. B. Anderson. W. lobelioides is an annual, 

 and native of the Canary and Cape Verde 

 Islands. It should be treated as a half-naray 

 annual, and will flourish in any cool situation 

 planted in light, rich soil. W. gracilis is a- 

 native of New Zealand, and is also found in 



Australia and South Africa. It is a very vari- 

 able plant, both in habit and in the colour and 

 size of its flowers. Some forms are annual, 

 whilst others may also be termed perennial as 

 they persist and come up from the same rooi- 

 stock year after year for a time. The iormin 

 cultivation now is apparently perennial, om 

 except in sheltered places it does not sun ivb 

 our winters very well. It can be P/°P a g a "° 

 by division of the root, but does best »nra 

 raised from seed and treated as a biennial. 



.. mixture of fine peat and sand in the propor- 

 tion of five parts of the former to one of the 



Weed on a Lawn : Abbey Lodge The plant* 

 a species of Cerastium. probably C anei 

 Apply a top-dressing of fine soil, im«d * ^ 

 some nitrogenous manure, such as nu" 

 soda or sulphate of ammemia. This ^ul cause 

 the grass to grow luxuriantly, whicn win 

 time crowd out the weed. 



Communications Received. _W. **.--«• • w ' H A 

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